Boosting employee engagement - ‘ Beyond intranet and newsletter ’ Lukasz Augustyniak Eurostat, Luxembourg

What is employee engagement? Mix of factors including commitment to the organisation, job satisfaction, and ‘organisational citizenship’ – the willingness to go beyond your job description

Engaged employees: perform better are more innovative are more likely to stay with their current employer levels of absenteeism are lower enjoy greater levels of personal well- being

Staff engagement – when does it work? Employees need to feel that their organisation is interested in them They need to be given opportunities to express their views and to know that their opinions will make a difference Both senior and line managers need to be involved

Internal communication at Eurostat Three people full time Interactive platform Quick access to Director-General and other directors Communication in English Part of a larger communication unit

Tools Intranet site (Cybernews) Newsletter (Eurostat-Infos) Staff opinion surveys Lunchtime presentations / information sessions Photo competitions / art exhibitions Formal and informal breakfasts Annual General Assembly and Christmas party Well-being room / gym classes

Staff opinion surveys, or employee attitude surveys First step in measurement of employee attitudes (2011 – 67.1% staff response rate) Organised every two years by staff members, with support from management Coordinator plus steering committee, including head of internal communication Progress regularly communicated to staff and management alike

Staff opinion surveys Results show what employees feel about their work on a range of issues, including: -working environment -management -HR policy -communications -learning and development -work-life balance Identify areas where improvement actions are necessary

Cybernews 6-8 news items per day Interactive – contributions from internal communication team and staff members Suggestion box News on newcomers, canteen menu, events, sports activities

Cybernews

Eurostat Infos In paper form and online (employees voted to keep the paper edition) Published 5-6 times per year, up to16 pages Presentations of teams, managers, staff activities Hobbies Topical issues on important events

Eurostat Infos

Lunchtime presentations Projects, strategies, programmes explained by specialists and managers (new mission of Eurostat, experimental statistics, future data validation procedures) Group discussions (‘open-end meetings’) Reports and results published on intranet and in Eurostat Infos

Lunchtime presentations

EU presidency breakfasts Organised twice per year Coffee in early morning and a staff event at the end of the working day Chance for a group of employees to work together on a project (country info material, posters, music, slides, food etc) Hugely popular

EU presidency breakfasts

17/28 Photo competitions / art exhibitions Photo competitions: hundreds of entries, four categories (People, Nature, Action and Eurostat) Winners honoured at General Assembly Art exhibitions: paintings by staff members, poster art

Photo competitions / art exhibitions

Well-being room and gym classes Opened last year Run by staff on voluntary basis Free of charge Oriental belly dance, inner-power breathing, karate, Thai boxing, tai chi, yoga, body- shape, choir, table tennis

Gym classes

Social media/Twitter/blog/video Twitter used mainly for distribution of news releases Social media could provide opportunities for knowledge sharing and problem solving iPhone applications for external users Blog on hold Video interviews done in the past

General Assembly Presents Eurostat and Commission priorities to employees One current statistical issue highlighted Jocular presentation by staff

General Assembly

Christmas party Biggest social event of the year Prepared by staff (national tables) In cooperation with internal communication team Photos published on intranet

Christmas Party

Conclusions Staff engagement crucial for performance and productivity Role of internal communication vital in this process Intranet / newsletter not enough Interactivity and follow-up Over 90% of employees say they like working at Eurostat – we play a small part in this

Thank you for you attention! Please tell us about your experiences with staff engagement in your organisation